Activision Gives Players Homework to Prep for Call of Duty: WW2

Activision just gave players a bunch of homework to help them prepare for Call of Duty: WW2. Ugh, homework…gross. Well, not really. This isn’t the dull kind of homework. Instead they’ve given potential players a huge list of movies, books, and TV shows that will help them learn more about the conflict that rests at the center of the game: World War 2.

Sure, by now you’ve probably become imminently familiar with WW2, thanks to it being the focus of the series until the release of COD 4: Modern Warfare, as well as the setting for countless other shooters. Still, it’s cool to see a game developer share what is likely some of the inspiration behind the game, and give players some cultural touchstones to brush up on.

The whole list is worth checking out, but some of my favorites include the following. For movies: Bridge on the River Kwai, Saving Private Ryan, and Downfall. For TV, Band of Brothers is pretty much a must-see, and while Call of Duty: WW2 is set in the European Theater, you should also check out the accompanying series The Pacific. And for books: Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy and The Story of World War II look great, though I’ll admit that I haven’t read any from Activision’s list.

Call of Duty heading back to WW2 has definitely made a lot of fans very happy. The series moved to modern conflicts years ago, and over the last couple of entries has moved further and further into the future. This culminated in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare which featured colonies on other planets, and space combat.

Many fans enjoyed the game, but others felt that the series had lost its grounding. Call of Duty: WW2 looks to rectify that in a big way, bringing things back to the conflict that started it all.